Sloth as a Predominant Fault

SLOTH IS AN INORDINATE LOVE OF REST, which leads us to omit

or neglect our duties. Physical, mental, and spiritual duties are before us daily;
sloth tries to enter into them.

The parable of the call of the laborers to the vineyard is worthy of

consideration when we speak about sloth. It will be recalled that Our Lord likens
the Kingdom of Heaven to the householder who hired men; some of them early
in the morning, others at the third or sixth hour, and still others at the eleventh
hour. And Our Lord, in calling men to His kingdom, is ever on the alert, even to
the end of the day. He wants to be the Master, the employer of all men; He
desires the service of all; He yearns for it; He died for all. All men should work
for Him; sloth refuses wholly or in part.

God is persistently calling men to His vineyard. Many answer the call; they
work for a while; they serve God; then they cease to labor; evidently they stop
thinking about the end of day and the pay that has been offered. They are
prodigals. Sin and perhaps continued sin, failure to employ grace and the
Sacraments place them among the idle, among those who walk away from Him
and into the paths of adversity. Still God continues to call them; He wants them
to come back and take up their work for Him; He asks them to be sorry for
having quit; He asks them to begin all over.

Others also God has called to His vineyard. They begin to work for Him;
they labor in faithful service, though at times they fall into sin. Undoubtedly
they are far from perfection in their work, but they realize their weaknesses
through remorse of conscience, and they take up their tasks with new heart and
new resolution. They are good in the eyes of God in spite of their frailties. God
wants them to continue to serve Him, for He knows and they understand that
future and even present happiness lies in such employment. Such souls, nearly
always faithful, go through life making false steps and never reaching holiness,
but nevertheless working for Him who rewards those who have served Him and
die holily in His service.

There are others in the vineyard who are almost Saints. They are so close to
perfection that the wonder is that they don’t fight sloth, and work with a little
more zeal to reach holiness. If they were only a little better, they would be
Saints, though hidden Saints. They love the Church; they glory in the Church;
they love the Master, and they are eager and anxious to work for Him, believing
all the time that what they do is incomparably small to what He has done for
them. How they serve God with that faith! What glory to the Church such souls
are! What sources of edification they are to others!
 There are Saints in the vineyard. Look at the history of the Saints and you
will notice that some never left the work of God for sin; sloth could not draw
them down. They were holy all the days of their life, growing more perfect and
close to God, the longer they lived and, consequently, the longer they served.
Their perseverance in the zealous labor never wavered; in fact it constantly
increased. What tabernacles such souls must have been! A thousand acts each
day made them more lovely; a thousand unreckoned graces made them more
beautiful. God was ever present to add to their wonderfulness. Such holiness is
answering God’s call to labor for Him without reservation, without any thought
but doing all for Him. Such holiness is continued loving service. And what think
you will be the reward?

There are other Saints in the vineyard. These were called at the third, or
sixth, or eleventh hour. When their call came, they were ready to turn to holy
work for Him. They did not question the lateness of the hour or worry about the
reward. Their day of conversion was at hand and they answered unreservedly.
Once they had begun, they did not turn back. They set their minds, their hearts
on holiness, and they reached it with persevering zeal. The work may have been
hard; they had difficulties, and more than likely trying difficulties; but they were
big and brave enough to throw aside the temptations that would seek to hold
them back.

Has not a spark of grace fired your soul, so that you resolved and renewed
your resolution to give perfect service to God? Were you afraid to try to be holy?
Did temptation make you believe that you had started so late or had so much to
do that there was no use working at all? What is there to stop you from
beginning right now to work perfectly for God? Your resolution with God’s
grace can lead to great heights. Perhaps not to the mountain of holiness that the
Saints reached, but nevertheless to great spirituality. St. Francis of Assisi began
late, so did Magdalene, so did Augustine, and the Good Thief very late. But it is
a question of when you begin. It is not too late to start now; but it will be too late
after awhile, for such a thought is to plan not to answer the call to work.

Consider all the daily means to advance in holiness; think of all the graces at
your command; what opportunities! Have you not seen others reach up to what
they have? Will you try?

The lesson of the parable does not only refer to spiritual things as such.
Laboring for the Master includes manual labor, recreation, studies. God wants us
to serve Him faithfully in each of these, giving Him as perfect a service as
possible. Could we not raise our standard in our studies? Could we not in-crease
in our spirit of study and perseveringly be faithful to it? Could we not show
more attention, more application, more willingness to learn? Could we not

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elevate our standard in recreation? in any work that we are called upon to do? A
little more effort, a little more zeal, a little less sloth, and we would be rendering
to God the service that He wants, which He has actually called us to, and for
which He will reward us.

Too many persons are satisfied with mediocrity. They are neither good nor
bad; they are ordinary, commonplace; and they remain so through their own
fault. Let us glance over the various kinds of mediocrity and then determine
whether or not we are ordinary. Some are mediocre in general. They have a
lukewarm, careless attitude about everything. Their standard is ordinary in
regard to spiritual things, studies, manual labor, to the proper attitude in rec-
reation. They do not pray well or keep rules, they do not study with any real
effort, they work in an indifferent way, they are slothful even in games. There
are others who are lukewarm concerning some particular thing; they are ordinary
in spiritual affairs, or studies, or manual labor, or recreation. Certain others are
mediocre in a still more particular way; they practice obedience, or charity, or
mortification, or rule keeping in an ordinary way. They have a pronounced
weakness, and seemingly sloth holds them in power, for they do not correct what
is at fault; and the danger is that this one weakness will spread and become the
cause of other falls. Those who are mediocre as far as studies are concerned
have commonplace attention, or application, or willingness to learn, or effort. It
may be they have a class to which they give no interest or very little; or they are
neglecting a certain study that is hard for them. Those who are mediocre in
regard to manual labor work in a careless or lazy fashion, being satisfied with
indifferent results. Those who are mediocre in recreation commit the same faults
time after time; they do not urge themselves to better things; they lack zeal in the
correction of their faults; they remain uncharitable. Now, none of us would care
to be mediocre in everything, but are there not any number of us who seem to be
satisfied with mediocrity in a particular way? Sloth keeps us from perfection;
sloth holds us back; sloth enters daily into some of the things we do.

Sloth tries to enter into spiritual affairs:

Am I slothful?
Have I an inordinate love of rest, neglecting my duties?
Have I an attraction for spiritual things?
Do I make resolutions and try to keep them?
Do I pray with fervor, with piety?
Have I my attention fixed on the words or their meaning? on God?
Do I offer lip-service?
Am I lukewarm? indifferent? careless?
Do I pray as a mere matter of routine?
Do I allow distractions to remain?

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 Am I mediocre at prayer?
Do I practice recollection?
Do I make sufficient effort?
Do I tire easily when praying?
Do I go through exercises half-heartedly?
Do I hurry through my prayers?
Do I complain about the length of prayers? exercises?
Do I rush on leaving exercises?
Do I assist at prayers in a lazy posture?
Do I genuflect reverently?
Do I make the sign of the cross reverently?
Do I observe the rubrics in serving Mass? assisting at Mass?
Do I have respect for sacred places, persons, and things?
Do I have confidence, humility, perseverance, fervor in my prayers?
What have I done to improve my standard in prayers?
Have I made an effort to get rid of my faults? especially my predominant
fault?
Is my obedience prompt, entire, cheerful, supernatural?
Do I mortify my mind and senses?
Have I grown more humble?
Do I hate sin and try to avoid it?
Am I meek, patient, kind, obliging?
Am I modest?
Do I love God because He has been good to me? above all things?
Do I love God for Himself alone?
Is there any virtue in which I am mediocre?
Do I commit venial sins?
Do I fall into deliberate imperfections? what about my rule-keeping?
Do I want to be perfect?
Have I perseveringly tried to improve?

Sloth tries to enter into mental affairs:

Am I slothful in regard to studies?

Do I make an effort to study?
Do I waste time?
Do I allow distractions to remain?
Do I grow tired easily?
Do I seek excuses to get out of studying or the work assigned?

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 Do I get merely the work assigned? or is it my best effort?
Do I copy? cheat on a quiz or examination?
Am I careless? indifferent?
Do I try to make my work neat? correct? accurate?
Do I neglect any class?
Do I realize that perfect silence helps me study?
Am I diligent in the preparation of my classes?
Do I control my eyes? ears? tongue?
What is my standard in class?
Do I lack diligence?
Do I lack attention?
Am I willing to learn?
Am I obedient?
Am I humble about my talents, work, answers, conduct?
Do I keep silence? Do I prompt? make signs? throw notes?
Am I guilty of frivolity?
Do I ask questions without thinking?
Do I put too much time on one class, neglecting others?
What zeal have I used to acquire a spirit of study?
Do I try to be faithful to my studies?

Sloth tries to show itself in deed:

Do I act lazily?
Am I too fond of rest?
Do I take lazy positions in answering prayers?
Do I kneel in a lounging way?
Do I walk in a lazy way?
Am I too deliberate in the way I do things?
Do I act promptly, whole-heartedly, cheerfully, supernaturally?
Do I do things poorly, sluggishly, remissly?
Am I changeable? fickle? tiring of something quickly?
Do I delight in idle conversation?
Have I a lazy way of speaking?
Do I dress slovenly?
Do I choose the company of those who are not doing well?
What is my standard in recreation?
Is my conduct sportsmanlike?
Am I careless about modesty, charity, truthfulness?

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 Am I indifferent to a standard that is honest, just, fair?
Am I mediocre about meekness?
Is there any virtue that I practice in a mediocre way in recreation?
What have I done not to be slothful in deed?
Could I do more?

Do we do all to please God? Is this our motive for manual labor? If it is, we
work promptly, cheerfully, whole-heartedly; we plan our work and do it orderly;
there is nothing slip-shod about it; there is nothing, be it ever so slight, that is
wilfully left undone; we do a finished bit of work.

Zeal in studies can be acquired. Zeal demands attention; attention grows

through practice; so does application; and these ordinarily foster a desire to
learn. Now as never before the world needs learned, intellectual leaders who are
guided by Catholic principles. Therefore, we who are following a vocation
should use every opportunity to acquire a true spirit of study, for the more
mentally developed we are, the greater will be our work for God.

Zeal in spiritual affairs can be acquired. Tepidity can be overcome by

persevering effort. Perfection should be our goal, even though we never reach it.
To try to keep rules perfectly is soon to love to keep rules; to labor to be free
from venial sin is quickly to be working against imperfection; to acquire virtue
is to set the mind on the important virtues — humility, mortification, piety,
obedience, love of neighbor and God — practicing them daily. To be attentive in
prayer, be faithful in getting rid of distractions that arise in the making of the
regular exercises; to be fervent, keep trying to be fervent. Have confidence in
persevering prayer.

Do not lose heart in fighting against sloth. Repeat your resolutions frequently
during the day. Prayer and effort are the means to success. We are not working
alone: God’s grace is with us, if we ask for it. Let us ask for it perseveringly.

Fortitude

FORTITUDE IS A MORAL VIRTUE which, for the pose of doing good,

inspires us to great and difficult works, or enables us to suffer grave evils, even
death itself.

The hero, having strength of will and purpose, is held in admiration; the
coward, having weakness of will and purpose, is condemned. Yet men have
commonly called heroic that which demands physical prowess, physical

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courage. Those noted for mental achievements have not been termed heroic,
though their genius is recognized. Still one who stands for principle, who
remains true to it, who resolutely follows it, is a hero.

Now heroism is not within marked limits. Just where it begins and ends and
where folly enters cannot be accurately determined. The quality of courage
should not lead to a false self-confidence, which ordinarily is expressed in
egotism, in a domineering spirit, in unnecessary risks. Self-reliance should not
be wilful neglect of prudent safeguards. Self-determination should not be
deliberate refusal to accept advice. Over-confidence is as bad as timidity. Both
are abnormal and need to be made sane and reasonable. Foolishly to attempt
what is beyond one’s powers is to court disaster; not to try what one could
reasonably do is to accept failure.

Moral courage, that is, fortitude, is often lacking in those who have physical
and mental strength as well as in those who have not. Human respect and
timidity enter into what they do or avoid. They see a bad example and follow it;
they observe others doing wrong and they have not the courage to do right; they
are afraid of the opinion of others; they listen to things that they disapprove of;
they keep silent when they should speak. They become followers instead of
leaders.

Fortitude, greatness of soul, should incline us to heroic acts of every kind of

virtue. We do not allow ourselves to be presumptuous, that is, attempt what is
not prudent. Nor do we permit ourselves to be ambitious, that is, strive for power
for its own sake. Nor do we suffer vainglory to be the motive of conduct. Nor
should we allow weakness of character or false confidence to rule us. We aim at
perfection of virtue, though not all virtues at once. We seek holiness, though the
approach is slow and hard and little by little.

Have we worked in a truly heroic way? Most of us will not face grave
dangers or death by martyrdom. Still there is heroism in being faithful to
ordinary duties. It is no easy matter to be perfect from day today. It is hard to
give up one’s will completely, to be an exemplar of self-denial, to be prayerful,
to be sincerely humble, to keep rules perfectly, to avoid sin and imperfection
perseveringly, to love God with our whole heart and our neighbor as ourselves.
As a matter of fact there may not be perfection in every detail, but the great
thing to be accomplished is kept in mind and sought for constantly. There is an
effort to bring self into subjection. An absolute victory over self is heroism.

Temptation, of course, will try to prevent perseverance. If it cannot stop us

from starting, it will attempt to keep us from continuing. Now perseverance is
nothing less than forgetfulness of self. What is sought is kept in mind and not the
personal effort required to reach it. The burden and heat are borne for the good
cause that is sought. Our Lord thought of the work to be accomplished. The
Apostles were ready to be sacrificed because of the good tidings that they were

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bringing to others for the sake of the Master. St. Paul expressed this thought
most adequately when he said that he was willing to be anathema if it would
serve the glory of God. That was complete forgetfulness of self. On the contrary,
we are inclined to put much on personal whim and fancy and difficulty.
Seemingly, we hate to work hard to acquire things, even those of value. If
perseverance were looked on with eyes of faith: an opportunity to serve God, a
chance to help others, a means of acquiring learning and holiness, then we
would face resolutely the mountain tops and struggle along securely and slowly
to reach them, knowing that our trust is not in self alone, but in God. Moreover,
if we look at perseverance as something that applies to the very action that we
are performing, and not as to some distant thing, we will face the future
confidently, trusting to God.

There will be temptations to waver. We have not developed perfect habits of

constancy. Steadiness of purpose has to be acquired. All of us are somewhat
weak and somewhat changeable. If we fall, if we break our resolutions, should
we not rise promptly, take heart again, and follow through to the journey’s end?

In other words, there will be difficulties. So many take the wrong view of
them. Temptations worry them; trials cause loss of peace of mind, bringing dis-
content and even discouragement; faithfulness to daily duties seem hard,
especially when there is lack of spiritual delight. A sane and spiritual idea of
difficulties should be had. They prove us; they test us; they give us an
opportunity to work harder for God. They do not mean that there is something
wrong with us or our spiritual life; when overcome, they do declare that we are
on the right road spiritually. To let them conquer us is to go along with the
current, following the line of least resistance and that leads to nothing great. Life
is a warfare. Cowards refuse to fight or offer feeble opposition. The courageous
glory in the chance to prove their mettle to God. There is joy in victory that is
fought for. The strong of heart do not give up.

Let our trust and our strength be in God. “The Lord is my protector; of whom
shall I be afraid?” Let us be constant in following good. Let us perseveringly
overcome difficulties. Let us seek perfection in our ordinary affairs. Let us strive
unceasingly to love God, for then we shall do great things for Him.